


Naughty Elf!

by ballumschmallum



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Ballum Christmas (Eastenders), Domestic ballum, EastEnders - Freeform, Elf on the Shelf, M/M, ballum - Freeform, ballum does elf on the shelf, ben x callum, callum rolls his eyes alot, eastenders does elf on the shelf, flirty ballum, heavy kissing, mentions of jay brown, mentions of lola pearce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21638239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ballumschmallum/pseuds/ballumschmallum
Summary: All Ben wanted was an evening in with his boyfriend while Lexi was sleeping upstairs. However, it is December and Lexi has a visitor leading up to Christmas that Ben has to keep occupied.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Comments: 7
Kudos: 89





	Naughty Elf!

**Author's Note:**

> This Christmas fic is for the day 2 of the Ballum Advent Calendar that is hosted on Tumblr by @ballum-fic-wishes 
> 
> I had so much fun writing this and writing Ben x Callum in general. 
> 
> There is no Beta so all mistakes are my own!
> 
> Please let me know what you think x

Callum slouched down on the sofa, smiling absentmindedly as his eyes wandered around the room. The lights were dimmed, only leaving the illuminating soft glow of the lights on the Christmas tree that stood beautifully by the window in all its festive and perfectly colour coded decorations as this was Ian Beale’s Christmas tree after all. Lola and Jay were out of town for the evening, Ian and Bobby were at the restaurant and Kathy was doing a shift at the Prince Albert which left Ben to look after Lexi. Therefore, Ben took advantage of the empty house for the evening and decided to invite Callum over.

After all, they both liked idea of snuggling up on the sofa together watching rubbish TV or a movie, after the day they’ve had of attending Mel’s funeral which had to end in drama, this was Walford, of course it had to.

Callum’s head flicked towards the stairs when he heard a creak, followed by heavy padded footsteps going down the stairs. He smiled softly as he saw Ben appear at the end of the staircase.

“So what story did you come up with tonight?” Callum teased, his smile growing wider.

Ben looked over at Callum and grinned as he walked over to him. Ben sat down on the sofa, swinging his legs across it and resting his head on Callum’s lap.

“Have you heard of the storybook about the bear hunt?”

“Yes,” Callum smirked. “Please don’t tell me you memorised the story and tried to pull it off as your own.” Callum let out a chuckle as his fingers automatically ran through Ben’s hair, starting to become a comfortable and natural reflex. Callum found himself loving running his hands through Ben’s hair, at any opportunity he got without it looking weird, he would do it and Ben didn’t seem to complain.

Ben’s eyes shot up to meet Callum’s, affronted. “No, I did not!” Ben proclaimed, moving Callum’s hand that was in his hair and rested it on his chest so he could lightly stroke Callum’s arm. “I have you know, instead of a bear, it was a unicorn and I just made up a few extra obstacles that they had to get through, Lexi seemed happy with it.” He told him proudly.

Callum howled quietly with laughter to prevent the risk of waking Lexi up, “Oh babe, can’t that creative head of yours not think of any more amazing stories?” He cooed mockingly, using his index finger on his free hand to prod the side of Ben’s head gently.

“Going through a bit of the old writer’s block at the moment,” Ben quipped which made Callum chuckle. 

Ben took another glance back up at his boyfriend, their eyes meeting. “You might need to start coming up with some story ideas for her, share some of the bedtime shifts with me. I’m sure you could think of a story based around the boys in blue coming to the rescue.”

“Why me?!” Callum cried, his eyes widening.

“Well, if you’re in it for the long run,” Ben licked his lips. “You might want to make yourself useful,” Ben added playfully.

“Oh I thought I was useful already,” Callum answered suggestively, raising his eyebrow.

“Oh yeah?” Ben mocked, raising his eyebrow too.

“Yeah, I can show you how useful I’ve been later,” Callum suggested flirtatiously before instantly realising what he had just said, feeling his cheeks flush a little bit.

Ben instantly smirked widely, moving his hand to cradle the back of Callum’s head, “Well I’ll look forward to it.” He flirted back.

Callum hummed in agreement, the blush fading before it had even started. He found his head being dragged down to meet Ben’s, his lips connecting to his as they clasped together in a passionate kiss. Callum’s hand started to wander from Ben’s chest down to his stomach.

They were interrupted when Ben’s phone vibrated in his pocket, causing Ben to grumble as their lips parted.

“Sorry babe,” Ben mumbled, huffing as his hand dug into his pocket, pulling out his phone to find a text from Lola.

**_Lola: Hope Lexi is okay. Me and Jay will be home by 12 so will do the afternoon school run. Oh and don’t forget to do the elf before you go to bed tonight!_ **

Ben whined as he scrunched his eyes shut, tilted his head back slightly.

“What?” Callum frowned, stealing a glance at Ben’s phone screen. “Wait, who’s this elf you’re going behind my back with?” He joked.

Ben opened his eyes and grinned slightly, “Cheeky. I guess you haven’t heard of elf on the shelf?”

“I heard Linda briefly mention it to Mick last year but they decided Ollie was too young for it, why?” Then Callum gasped excitedly, “Aw, has Lexi got an elf?!” He asked, smiling widely, trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

“Yes she has,” Ben rolled his eyes, his lips twitching in amusement. “Freddie the elf started getting up to his old tricks yesterday,” he let out an exasperated sigh.

Callum flashed his dopey lopsided grin as he started to stroke Ben’s hair, “And what has Freddie the elf been doing so far?” He asked intrigued.

Ben looked up at his boyfriend, his brows furrowed but when he noticed Callum grinning down at him like a Cheshire cat, he couldn’t help but grin. He let out a snort, “Babe, you do realise the elf doesn’t actually do anything don’t ya? It’s the grownups, just like how Santa doesn’t actually exist and the adults have to spend an arm and a leg getting the presents…” 

“Sssshh,” Callum hissed. “Keep it down, Lexi might hear you,” he adds in a hushed tone. 

“No she won’t,” Ben scoffs. “Anyway, as Jay has whisked Lola away for the evening, I’m in charge of doing something with the elf.”

“What mischief,” asks Callum in a playful tone, mimicking the brackets when he says ‘mischief’. “has the elf got up to so far?”

Ben bit down gently on his bottom lip in thought, “Well, the elf fancied a midnight feast last night and ended up making a mess in the kitchen and there was rice krispies and milk all over the worktop. The first night the elf decided to have a tea party with Lexi’s dolls and her advent calendar was with him with a letter from Santa.”

Callum nodded in acknowledgement, taking it all in. He felt like a kid again, a proper kid who was mesmerised and overjoyed in the magic of Christmas. His mother left when he was eight years old and did not see her very often. Him and Stuart along with dad did celebrate Christmas but did not embrace it as much as other families, like Callum wanted.

As it hit the second day of December, if Callum was really in it for the long run with Ben as he hoped, around this time of year is when Callum would really enjoy and appreciate the fact that Ben has a beautiful little girl, so he could share the joy and magic of Christmas with her.

“So, with Jay and Lola away, does that mean that you have to move the elf before we go to bed tonight?”

“Yep,” Ben responded, popping the ‘p’. He let out a slight huff of annoyance. This was a thing that Lola had started with Lexi last year and Ben got dragged into helping out this year which he was quite reluctant to do, but truthfully, seeing his little girl coming down laughing every morning as she saw what the elf had got up to during the night made his heart burst.

“Well, maybe I can put myself to good use,” Callum suggested.

“You going to make the elf disappear?!” Ben joked, with enthusiasm ringing in his vocals, flashing a smirk. He then lifted his hand and ran his thumb across Callum’s cheeks, “Or do you have something else in mind?” He wriggled his eyebrows.

“No,” Callum scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I was going to say that I can help give you a few ideas on what to do with the elf.”

Ben let out a loud groan, running his hands down his face which made Callum laugh. Ben let out an exasperated sigh as he sat up, swinging his feet onto the floor.

“I’m going to go and get us some beer,” Ben announced. He got off the sofa and walked into the kitchen unknown to him that Callum’s smile was following him.

Callum got out his phone and started scrolling through it. Shortly after, Ben returned to the sofa with two bottles of beer and held one out for Callum.

“Thanks,” Callum smiled appreciatively as he took the bottle of beer and taking a gulp. “I’m looking online for some elf on the shelf ideas.”

“You’re actually serious about this?” Ben interrupted in a dreaded tone, raising his eyebrow.

“You want to make it special for Lex, don’t ya?” Callum questioned in a gentle voice.

Ben rolled his eyes. Lexi was already starting to rub off on Callum. “Maybe I should stop you two from spending so much time together, you’re already picking up her traits.” Ben noted, practically admitting that Lexi has him wrapped around his little finger.

Callum smirked, “You could put flour on the worktop and have the elf do snow angels?!” He suggests, his eyes wide and lit with excitement.

“We cannot make any mess in the kitchen for at least a few days,” Ben answered. “Ian will probably have a heart attack if he comes down to more mess in his kitchen. He was having kittens when cereal and milk was everywhere the other day.”

Callum gasped in fascination as he read another idea on his phone, “Or you could get the shoes from the shoe rack and make a shoe train and put the elf in the shoe at the front.”

Ben nodded in brief acknowledgement, listening to Callum list off ideas whilst looking towards the telly, not really taking in what was playing out in front of him.

“Or you could get a toilet roll and roll it down the stairs and have the elf sitting at the bottom step,” Callum laughed, as he read the idea on his phone.

“Or maybe I can colour the elf’s nose red and make out he has the flu so he’s out of bounds for a few days,” Ben thought aloud, sarcasm dripping through his voice.

“I think that was one of the ideas on here you know,” Callum states before going back on his phone and scrolling down the screen again.

“Babe,” Ben whines, turning to Callum to find that his eyes had diverted from his phone screen and was looking back at him with a frown.

Callum put his phone face down on the arm of the chair, moving his beer into his other hand as Ben shuffled closer to him, his hand reaching into Ben’s hair as Ben nestled in between the side of his body and his arm.

“I think it’s great how you want to help out and be involved with Lex, I really do, but right now after today with Lisa going off her nut again at the funeral accusing my dad of not being the father of his and Sharon’s sprog, all I want to do now is snuggle up on this sofa with my boyfriend and watch some boxset or overrated film,” Ben says with his hand on Callum’s chest, feeling his heart flutter beneath his palm.

“I’m sorry,” Callum chuckled nervously. “Of course, that sounds perfect.” He adds genuinely, leaning down and pecking Ben’s lips. When Callum pulled his lips away briefly, Ben caught his lips again in another kiss.

“Good,” Ben smiled cheekily before pulling away. He grabbed the television remote and leant back again, resting his head on Callum’s shoulder as he aimlessly scrolled through Netflix.

“What do you fancy watching?” Ben enquired. “Ooohh look there’s Line of Duty, might give you some pointers.” He teased with a smirk.

Callum rolled his eyes, “Oh give it a rest, will ya.”

Ben let out a soft giggle as he continued flicking through the programmes on Netflix, “Maybe we should just watch something light,” he went on to suggest. “Because I don’t know about you but I’m not planning on fully concentrating on whatever we happen to watch,” he says seductively, suddenly changing his tune as he stroked his hand up Callum’s leg and meeting his eyes with a lustful look.

Callum cleared his throat, “There really is something about sex and stiffs with you isn’t there.”

Ben burst out laughing, “Are you complaining?” He questioned.

Callum shook his head grinning as he leant his head back on the top of the sofa. “Nah. You’re right, it has been a hard day with the funeral and all.”

“And it’s about to get a lot harder,” said Ben flirtatiously, biting down on his bottom lip.

Callum rolled his eyes but he couldn’t stop the smile on his face, “God, do you ever shut up?”

Ben grinned cheekily, “I’d be boring otherwise babe, you know that.”

Callum hummed before pecking Ben’s lips and cheekily tapping the bottom of his chin. “Hurry up and pick something,” he huffed playfully.

“Yes sir,” Ben says mockingly, rolling his eyes with a smile before turning back to the TV.

They had decided to watch Gavin and Stacey, a series they have seen a fair few times and enjoyed every time they watched it. However, in this present moment, they were not finding enjoyment in the TV series but in each other instead as together they were embraced in a passionate and heated kiss, Ben nearly sitting in Callum’s lap as hands were running through each other’s hair and creeping underneath each other’s tops. Soft murmuring moans and gasps were escaping through their lips.

“Shall we take this upstairs?” Ben whispers huskily against Callum’s throat and he presses a hard kiss against it, “I’m getting fed up of hearing welsh vocals in the background.”

Callum moaned softly but Ben could just about sense Callum nodding his head briefly and could tell he was by how his neck was moving as he continued to kiss his neck. Ben moved his lips back up to meet Callum’s, pressing a hard and lingering kiss against them.

“C’mon then,” said Ben softly, kissing his boyfriend one last time.

“Hold on,” Callum suddenly said in realisation, his eyes widening.

“What?” Ben frowned, furrowing his eyebrows.

“We have to move the elf,” Callum responds. “We haven’t thought about what we are going to do with it.”

Ben groaned and rolled his eyes dramatically. “I’ll move the elf,” Ben says adamantly. His face softens and a flirtatious smile starts to dance on his lips as he looks fully at Callum, drowning into his piercing blue orbs. “You go up, keep the bed warm.” He winks.

Callum smirks biting down on his bottom lip. He gently pushes Ben off of him and once they are both standing, he places his hands on Ben’s waist and kisses him hard, causing Ben to whimper with desire against his lips.

“Don’t be too long,” Callum murmurs against Ben’s lips, the elf long forgotten.

Ben’s face is painted with lust and determination as he kisses Callum again, leaving a lingering kiss on his lips. Callum smiled flirtatiously as he quickly makes his way over to the staircase, leaving the sound of his heavy footsteps in his wake. Ben cannot help the stupid smile that he has on his face. He was besotted, he knew that but does not mean he wants to admit it, not yet anyway.

Ben sighs as he rushes about downstairs, grabbing the elf and a few other things before setting up some new scene with the elf in the kitchen before switching all the lights off and heading upstairs to meet his lover for the evening and hoped he would be for every evening after that.

“Are you sure you can’t just pull a sicky?” Ben pouts sadly as he lay in bed, keeping hold of Callum’s wrist and stroking it gently with his thumb as he looked up at Callum who was also fitted in his black suit ready for work. “I mean, the stiffs aren’t going anywhere.”

Callum smiled as he sat at the edge of the bed, “As much as I’d love to spend the day here with you, there’s paperwork I have to get through.” He responds, with a sad smile. “Besides, you have a daughter that you need to take on the school run.”

“I could text mum, see if she could take her in as a one off,” Ben says cheekily.

Callum chuckled shaking his head before leaning down and kissing Ben. Ben moved his hand into Callum’s hair as he ran his fingers through it, deepening the kiss and moaning into it.

“Daddy,” a little voice called from outside the bedroom door.

“Speaking of the devil,” Ben murmured against Callum’s lips before pulling away. “Hold on baby, just coming!” He calls out, raising the volume in his voice so Lexi can hear.

Callum cleared his throat as he stood up and straightened himself up. Ben pulled the covers off himself as he climbed out of bed, pulling a pair of boxers on and putting on his dressing gown. He quickly put his glasses on too. Ben sighed as he opened the bedroom door to reveal Lexi standing on the other side of it.

“Morning darlin’,” Ben says softly as he crouched down to his daughter’s level. “You okay?” He asks, tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

Lexi nods happily. She looks behind her father to find Callum standing in the room, smiling fondly, as he watches the precious scene between a father and daughter unfold.

“Did you and Callum have another sleepover?” She asks innocently.

Ben chuckles awkwardly, running his fingers across his jaw, “Yes we did, babe.”

“I heard you two jumping on the bed!” Lexi giggles.

To quickly prevent the alarm from showing on Ben’s face, he laughed along with her, but Callum couldn’t help but blush. Ben and Callum looked over at each other and discreet smirks immediately pulled at each other’s lips as soon as they locked eyes.

Lexi suddenly gasps horrifically, “You two have to see what Freddie the elf has done!” She says, throwing her arms up in the air dramatically before placing her hands firmly on her hips.

Callum was suddenly intrigued, “What did he do, Lex?” He gasped, as he walked over to join them both.

“He did something really bad Callum,” said Lexi, in a serious tone.

“Why?” Callum said, quickly glancing at Ben. “What did he do?” He asked again, urgently.

“He’s put himself in a saucepan with water in it and he’s in there with a Barbie with no clothes on!” Lexi exclaims inattentively.

Callum gasps in mock shock as he looks over at Ben who has his hand over his mouth, trying to suppress a smirk. Callum turns back to Lexi. “I’ll come downstairs with you Lexi and you can show me,” he tells her in a persistent manner. 

Lexi nods and takes hold of Callum’s hand leading him downstairs with Ben following closely behind. When they got downstairs, Ian and Kathy were standing in the kitchen against the worktop with a cup of tea in their hands. Ian was hiding one of his cocky smirks as he sipped his tea.

“Good morning you two,” Ian chirped.

“Look!” Lexi exclaimed, pointing to the saucepan that was sitting on one of the hobs.

Callum was lost for words and trying not to laugh as he was being dragged over to the scene by Lexi. And as described, he found the saucepan filled halfway with water with the elf and a naked brunette Barbie doll inside. He turned back to Ben leaning against the doorframe, wishing that the floors would just swallow him up. Callum raised his eyebrow grinning.

If Ben was being honest, he did not think that Lexi would think anything of it being at such an innocent age and because he wanted to get to bed but wanted to make his daughter happy at the same time by being creative, he did not think of how it may be presented. Ben grabbed any doll and thought no more of it.

“Oh no,” Callum said disapprovingly, looking at Ben. “What a bad elf!”

“Why has Barbie got no clothes on and is in the water with Freddie?” Lexi frowned, trying to understand.

Ben walked over to the hob, “Looks like they might have been having a hot tub party.” He says observantly, scratching the back of his neck.

“But then Barbie would have been wearing a swimming costume,” Lexi responds like it was obvious.

“Or maybe they were having a bath together?” Ben quickly suggests.

Lexi scrunches her face up in disgust, “Ew, boys and girls don’t bath together!”

“Yes they can do,” Ben argues, desperately trying to find a way to get out of this.

“Yeah,” Callum agrees nodding his head. “Your dad and Auntie Lou use to bath together.”

Ben’s head snapped to look over at Callum whilst Ian nearly spat out his tea.

“Did you, daddy?” Lexi quizzed him intrigued, tilting her head to the side.

“Not that often,” Ben lied. He looked over at Callum and gave him daggers before turning back to Lexi. “But boys and girls can bath together if they’re at the right age.” He adds, so Lexi doesn’t think it’s okay to bath with him encase he suddenly decides to take a spontaneous bath which is very rarely.

Lexi nods slowly. Ben and Callum watched the tiny pieces go round in the small girl’s head.

“Tell you what,” Ben says, dragging Lexi out of her thoughts. “While you’re at school, I will email Santa to tell him of Freddie’s naughty behaviour so Santa can tell him off.” He said enthusiastically.

“Okay then,” Lexi agrees.

Ben smiles with relief. “Come on then Missy, go upstairs and get your school uniform on,” Ben instructs her as she is still wearing her unicorn pyjamas.

Lexi nods and runs up the stairs. When Ben turns back to everyone, Kathy is looking at him with a disapproving look whilst shaking her head.

“Well on that note, I’m going to hop in the shower and then take Lexi to school,” he announces, clapping his hands together. He turns to Callum, “I’ll text you later alright?” He says in a soft tone, before pecking Callum’s lips and quickly making a dash for it up the stairs. 

“I really do not know what goes through that boy’s head sometimes,” Kathy huffed, continuing to shake her head as she looked towards the doorway that her son had just escaped from.

“Neither do I half the time,” Callum teases, shrugging his shoulders innocently which earned a laugh from Kathy and Ian. “Anyway, I’ll see you later,” he smiles.

Ian and Kathy said their goodbyes in return as Callum left the house. Callum smiled to himself as he walked through the market, hearing Christmas songs echoing through each stall.

Maybe the next time Ben is in charge of the elf, Callum has decided that he will at least oversee it or take charge. Besides, Ben seems to enjoy it when Callum takes charge anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Please follow my tumblr @heythereromeo-xo 
> 
> Much love x


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